Field
The present disclosure is related to the field of medical device inventory and tracking. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to arrangements and methods for detecting location of a fixed wireless asset in a hospital environment.
Description of the Related Art
The last few years have seen explosive growth in the use of wireless communication in homes and businesses. This includes hospitals where it is increasingly advantageous to link diagnostic equipment and data access devices, such laptops, tablets, and personal data assistants (PDAs), to central data systems. In order to provide wireless connectivity, many hospitals are deploying wireless networking systems that cover most if not all areas where care is provided. A typical wireless network will have one or more wireless access devices that are connected to the network with physical cables. A hospital installation may have a number of wireless access devices positioned around the facility, each wireless access device covering an area that is determined in part by the layout and construction of the building around the wireless access device.
Hospitals are also coming under increased pressure to contain costs. One effect of this pressure is a need to maintain a current inventory of assets, such as the wireless access devices that are a part of the hospital infrastructure, as well as knowledge of the location of the assets.